My name is Doreh Taghavi, and I’m completing my master’s in Culture and Environment in Africa at the University of Cologne.

In my research at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) I intended to cover the Must Fall Movements that swept through South African Universities last year, and continue to have presence.

I arrived in Cape Town in the middle of October 2016, at which point Universities were already shut down due to the Must Fall Movements. After having lived in South Africa for nearly two and a half years, and having done months of background research in Cologne, I am honored to be back in Cape Town at such a critical time for South Africa. As I’ve observed, students in the Western Cape are both genuinely and critically involved in ensuring their future is one they can rely on. Students are tactfully and analytically tackling questions both specific to South Africa, and the globalizing world, as they demand free, decolonized education.

I am thankful to students and professors of UCT and UWC who have taken their own time to shape and guide my research, along with the invaluable contributions of the GSSC and my supervisor at University of Cologne.